Body opposed to Jat quota files caveat in SC

A Delhi-based body, opposed to the recent law granting quota to Jats and five other castes under the newly-carved Backward Classes (C) category, today filed a caveat in the Supreme Court saying that it be heard before any order is passed on a plea of a Jat organisation in support of the reservation.

Hawa Singh Sangwan, a former commandant of CRPF and President of Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS), had yesterday moved the apex court challenging an interim order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court staying the the Haryana law granting quota to Jats and five other castes.

‘OBC Reservation Raksha Samiti’, a body registered in Delhi, has filed the caveat through its President and advocate Ombir Singh in the apex court saying that it be heard if the plea of ABJASS is heard and some interim orders are passed.

The Samiti was one of the petitioners in 2014 before the apex court which had quashed the decision of then UPA-II government to grant quota benefits to Jats.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court, on May 26, had stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities while hearing a plea challenging the constitutional validity of the Haryana Backward Classes (reservation in services and admission in educational institutions) Act 2016 that was passed unanimously by the state Assembly on March 29.

The plea against the interim order of the High Court has been filed by the ABJASS yesterday.

The new act passed by the Haryana assembly provides reservation for Jats and five other communities under the backward class (C) category.

The five other communities – including Jat Sikhs, Muslim Jats, Bishnois, Rors and Tyagis – would be entitled to 10 per cent reservation in government services and admission in educational institutions.